bradley_brave1989 wrote:I think it has to be a back up plan of back up plans. UMKC is not what we need. The only plus side to them is the Kansas City market. There is literally 20 teams i can think of before them. I would rather have Youngstown St. or another horizon bottom feader.
That being said in all honesty i think its time to look in the mirror with our conference. I think including myself we tend to overvalue ourselves. The more the clock ticks on this I realize that we are not that big time because we would already have a replacement. Why is UMKC being mentioned? Probably because alot of teams have said no. Maybe I am being negative but i truly beielve a football/basketball split is upon us. Just like what happened with Catholic 7. Its sad to say, but I would be surprised if in the next 5 years the Valley is even close to what we have now.
The Valley is what it is. It's a top 10 basketball conference (at this second), but it is extremely constrained by geography. There just really aren't many good teams out there that are willing to join the conference who are near our geographic footprint. And the conference isn't willing to expand beyond current geographic limitations -- nothing says that better than even considering UMKC.
And no. Realistically, what I see happening in the next few years is that the Valley will fall significantly. The Creighton departure was the first step, and likely drops the MVC out of the top 10 conferences nationally. Wichita State will leave. Both teams will be replaced by safe, decent teams that are close enough to not stress resources.
I don't know that I'd say it's going to be a football/basketball split, though. I'm not sure if Evansville, Bradley, or Drake will have any better options. I suppose fans of those three would know what options they might have if they're looking at a Valley that's a top 15 conference rather than top 10.